


Wake Up Call

by Musical_Fandom



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Bad Ending, Cafe Leblanc (Persona 5), Gen, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, Memory Alteration, Past Brainwashing, Persona 5 Spoilers, Psychological Horror, Royal's Sleep Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28061982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musical_Fandom/pseuds/Musical_Fandom
Summary: Life is going well for Akechi but he can't shake the feeling that there's something deeply wrong.
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Sakura Futaba
Kudos: 21





	Wake Up Call

"Has LeBlanc always had a second story?" Akechi asked, suddenly confused at the stairs.

Futaba looked over the counter at them and shrugged. "Yeah, we don't really use it though." She smirked a bit. "I'm surprised you didn't notice them, detective."

Akechi looked at her and tried to hide his confusion behind a smile. "I don't know, maybe I'm getting rusty." It was unsettling. She was right, how had he not noticed in the two years he had been frequenting the cafe. He should have seen it every time he walked through the door but he somehow missed it. Everyday. For two years.

* * *

"What's up there?" Akechi asked. All he'd been able to think about for the past week was the stairs. Surely he had noticed before. How could he not have put together that LeBlanc was too tall and missed the stairs nearly every day?

"Just beans I guess?" Futaba answered with a shrug. "It's really dusty so I don't go up there."

"Why would you store coffee beans somewhere like that?"

"Ask Sojiro."

Akechi couldn't stop himself from staring at the stairs. Something was off.

* * *

"I heard that Masayoshi Shido guy died in prison." Futaba said with mild disinterest.

"He was the one who attempted a coup, right?" Ann asked.

Akechi nodded as he drank his coffee. A strange feeling took root in his chest. Disgust? Disappointment? He couldn't quite pin it down.

"Wasn't he the guy caught by the Phantom Thieves?"

"The what?" Akechi quickly turned to Ann. He felt like he was forgetting something very important.

"The Phantom Thieves, they were around last year but then they just left." Akechi just stared at her. The words weren't processing for some reason.

"Is everything okay?" Futaba asked. Akechi turned and saw a concerned expression.

"Oh, everything's fine..." He said as he looked at the stairs. What was he missing?

* * *

"Do you remember how we met?" Akechi asked. He had been up all night trying to look into the Phantom Thieves which led him to interviews with himself from the past year. The problem was that he had no memory of even doing them. There seemed to be a Phantom Thief shaped gap in his memory for some reason.

"I think it was the school festival last year." Makoto answered. Futaba nodded in agreement. "I invited you after I got your contact information from my sister."

That couldn't be right. He had to have known Makoto before then.

_"So you're just the good girl type of push over."_

Akechi's head started to hurt. Whatever that was, it was nothing like how he talked to Makoto. It was too harsh and wrong. Why did he think that?

"Are you feeling okay?" Akechi wasn't sure who asked the question but it didn't matter. Everything was wrong here. It felt like if he pushed anymore something would break and he wasn't sure if he was ready for that.

"Akechi!" Futaba cried, bringing him back to reality. He realized he looked up and felt tears streaming down his face.

* * *

Akechi walked into LeBlanc looking like a mess. He hadn't gotten any sleep in the past few days. His performance in school and at work was slipping but it didn't matter. He just needed to find out why everything felt so wrong.

"How did you meet everyone?" He asked. Futaba looked at him and shrugged.

"We met at school." She said simply. It wasn't right. That didn't line up with what he knew.

"But this is your first year at Shujin. How did we meet at the festival last year if..." He trailed off. His head was starting to hurt.

"Did you say something?" She asked. Had she not heard him? Did he even say that out loud? It was hard to tell. He was starting to feel light-headed.

"Didn't someone else work here?" He asked suddenly. It felt wrong and right. He knew that Futaba was the only part timer Sojiro ever had, so why did he remember games of chess and debates? What was going on?

"Just me and Sojiro. Why?"

"I... It's nothing. Just ignore me." 

Futaba gave him an odd look before she served him his coffee.

_"You're back awfully late."_

_"Honey I'm home."_

Akechi dropped the coffee. The cup tipped over, spilling it painfully onto his lap.

* * *

_Bright spots of snow stood out against messy black hair. His glasses obscured his eyes as he looked at Akechi. A small smile was met with a scowl._

_"I'm not in the mood for this-"_

Akechi jolted awake feeling like he was suffocating. He looked around his apartment frantically as if the boy from his dreams would be there. He knew him, why couldn't he remember him? What was going on?

* * *

Akechi stared at the stairs in LeBlanc. Nothing was adding up. Everything was so wrong but he couldn't figure out why. Why did nothing make sense? Why why why?

Futaba looked worried as she served him his coffee. "Everything okay there? You look kinda stressed."

_A black haired boy looked at Akechi with mild amusement. He was losing the game but still found some reason to be laughing._

_"I don't see what's so funny." He started with a smirk. "It's checkmate in two turns."_

_"Maybe." He said, his voice deep and commanding. It was hard to believe he was only a year younger than Akechi._

"-paying attention?"

Akechi looked at Futaba with confusion. "Did you know a boy with black hair?"

"Yeah? Plenty."

"He-he had glasses." Akechi could feel himself start to shake but he didn't know why.

"Are you okay?"

"I can't remember his name!" He felt like he was going insane. The look Futaba was giving him was not helping.

"Hey, try to calm down." She said somewhat awkwardly. Akechi looked at the stairs. His answer was up there. It had to be.

* * *

The Phantom Thieves. The school festival. That boy. It all raced through his head as he picked the lock to LeBlanc. He wasn't sure where the skill came from but he was glad he had it. He needed to find answers and he knew they were in LeBlanc.

He slipped in quietly and walked up to the stairs. He hesitated. 

**It wasn't too late to turn back. To forget about all of this.**

He dismissed the thought. Akechi was not someone to turn away from the truth. Turning back when he was so close wasn't an option. He calmed his nerves and climbed the stairs.

The first thing he noticed was the dust. It was almost hard to breathe. His eyes watered as they tried to get rid of the annoying particles. Looking around he noticed the room was absolutely covered with cobwebs. It was like no one had been up there in years. In the corner of the room sat a bed. Just one more push and something would break.

**Turn back.**

He approached it, noticing the lump under the covers. Akechi knew it had to be the mysterious boy. He grabbed the dusty blanket on the bed and uncovered the boy.

_Akira Kurusu looked at Akechi with a fierce determination. Even behind the mask he could see the fire in the boy's eyes. But it was too late._

Akechi took a step towards Akira as reality seemed to collapse around them. The sudden rush of memories sent him to the ground. Everything came back all at once, the Phantom Thieves, his death, Shido, Maruki's reality. His head was pounding. He tried to fight through the pain to reach Akira. He stood up again with considerable effort and used the bed as support.

He looked almost dead. Akechi would think he was if it wasn't for the gentle rise and fall of his chest. His normally messy black hair was somehow tangled even more than usual. His skin was much paler than Akechi remembered but looked otherwise normal. How long had he been like this? What had Maruki done to him?

A creak from the stairs made Akechi turn around. He was met with the sight of the devil himself slowly approaching.

"I see you decided to ignore my warnings." He said. He looked at Akechi with an apologetic smile.

"What did you do?"

"I eased his pain. He couldn't handle the pressure of the decision so I let him rest. He has nothing to worry about anymore."

Akechi felt anger and horror in equal measure.

"But what about you Akechi-kun? Were you not happy with your new life? Is that why you came up here?"

The fake memories flashed through his mind. His happy childhood, his success as a teen detective, the time he spent with his friends, the fulfillment he got from his life. But it was still fake. He couldn't accept that. There was no way he could accept being Maruki's happy little puppet anymore.

"I can tell that you're in pain too."

The words made his blood freeze. He looked down at Akira who hadn't so much as twitched the entire time.

"I just want everyone to be free from pain Akechi-kun. You have a choice." He gave Akechi a bright smile. "If you come with me I can fix this. You can go back to your happy life and forget all about this."

Akechi looked between Akira and Maruki. He could hardly tell which fate was worse. End up like Akira or the rest of the world. 

* * *

_~~"I will never accept this form of reality. I am done being manipulated."~~ _

* * *

Akechi walked into LeBlanc and was greeted by the sight of his friends. He smiled at them as he took his usual seat at the counter. As he talked to his friends he did his best to bury the inherent wrongness he felt. Everything was as it should be.


End file.
